Restaurant Sous la Tonnelle
A lineage of womenBy Maud Loubet
Now at the head of the restaurant “Sous la Tonnelle”, Maud Loubet, 37 years old and mother of Louise, tells us her story of women.
Ahead of her time, separated from my grandfather, independent and strong-willed, my grandmother opened her restaurant “Chez Mimi de Chisa” in 1967 in the heart of Porto-Vecchio. On the ground floor there was the restaurant, on the first floor songs and guitars, above that her apartments, and on the top floor guest rooms that she rented to students.
Self-taught, she first opened a grocery store and then a bar, which naturally became the restaurant where she built loyalty among her “lunchtime regulars”: the town’s workers.
Today, at 88 years old, you may still meet her in the street or at the restaurant, always as energetic as ever.
It was in 1997 that my mother, then 40 years old, took over the restaurant that belonged to my grandfather, located next to my grandmother’s. They coexisted on the same street for nearly ten years before my mother also took over my grandmother’s establishment. In reference to the vine that once stretched along the street, the two restaurants were merged and became “Sous la Tonnelle”.
At that time, I was taking my high school exams and had absolutely no interest in the restaurant business. I moved to Paris where I built both my professional and personal life. After ten years, I felt the desire to return home, and my mother needed to slow down. So naturally, I took over the restaurant. I wanted to develop our family business and above all make sure it would continue. My mother, who remained “in the kitchen” for twenty years, kept the iconic recipes such as the bruccio fritters. She revisited some of them, added more “modern” dishes such as slow-cooked veal chop, and refined others to make them perhaps a little more “feminine” or “light”.
These signature dishes and the quality of the cuisine built the restaurant’s reputation. Today, the chef in the kitchen is Farida, who has been working alongside us for 35 years!
Open all year round, since 1997 we have tripled the number of seats, with staff growing from three to five people, serving two hundred covers in summer and around fifty in winter. Our regular guests, who now dine with us both at lunch and dinner, allow us to remain open during the winter season.
What interested me from the beginning, while preserving the very high quality of the cuisine, was transforming a family business into a true family company, with a well-structured year-round organization and new developments such as an upcoming cookbook, takeaway products in jars, and a delicatessen.
My story is a story of women surrounding this house and this restaurant. In fact, the company is called “From Mothers to Daughters”! A story built by strong women who never saw themselves as victims in a patriarchal society. Women asserted themselves naturally and confidently.
Unconsciously, a “warrior” spirit, a fighting character, has been passed down from my grandmother to my daughter.
At 37, I feel as if I have already lived several lives and held several professions. I have become calmer and more at peace, with the desire to create new things. Everything now seems possible.
But I owe that to this pillar represented by this house and this lineage of strong women.
Family dishes with a touch of refinement — that is my mother’s signature.
Bringing a new cuisine in a self-taught way.
We cook by instinct.
From generation to generation we continue to grow.
I have never felt the need to defend my strength as a woman.
CONTACT DETAILS
Sous la Tonnelle
13 Rue Général Abbatucci, 20137 Porto-Vecchio
04 95 72 09 96
www.souslatonnelle-portovecchio.fr
instagram : souslatonnelleportovecchio
![Restaurant Sous la Tonnelle]()
![Restaurant Sous la Tonnelle]()
Now at the head of the restaurant “Sous la Tonnelle”, Maud Loubet, 37 years old and mother of Louise, tells us her story of women.
Ahead of her time, separated from my grandfather, independent and strong-willed, my grandmother opened her restaurant “Chez Mimi de Chisa” in 1967 in the heart of Porto-Vecchio. On the ground floor there was the restaurant, on the first floor songs and guitars, above that her apartments, and on the top floor guest rooms that she rented to students.
Self-taught, she first opened a grocery store and then a bar, which naturally became the restaurant where she built loyalty among her “lunchtime regulars”: the town’s workers.
Today, at 88 years old, you may still meet her in the street or at the restaurant, always as energetic as ever.
It was in 1997 that my mother, then 40 years old, took over the restaurant that belonged to my grandfather, located next to my grandmother’s. They coexisted on the same street for nearly ten years before my mother also took over my grandmother’s establishment. In reference to the vine that once stretched along the street, the two restaurants were merged and became “Sous la Tonnelle”.
At that time, I was taking my high school exams and had absolutely no interest in the restaurant business. I moved to Paris where I built both my professional and personal life. After ten years, I felt the desire to return home, and my mother needed to slow down. So naturally, I took over the restaurant. I wanted to develop our family business and above all make sure it would continue. My mother, who remained “in the kitchen” for twenty years, kept the iconic recipes such as the bruccio fritters. She revisited some of them, added more “modern” dishes such as slow-cooked veal chop, and refined others to make them perhaps a little more “feminine” or “light”.
These signature dishes and the quality of the cuisine built the restaurant’s reputation. Today, the chef in the kitchen is Farida, who has been working alongside us for 35 years!
Open all year round, since 1997 we have tripled the number of seats, with staff growing from three to five people, serving two hundred covers in summer and around fifty in winter. Our regular guests, who now dine with us both at lunch and dinner, allow us to remain open during the winter season.
What interested me from the beginning, while preserving the very high quality of the cuisine, was transforming a family business into a true family company, with a well-structured year-round organization and new developments such as an upcoming cookbook, takeaway products in jars, and a delicatessen.
My story is a story of women surrounding this house and this restaurant. In fact, the company is called “From Mothers to Daughters”! A story built by strong women who never saw themselves as victims in a patriarchal society. Women asserted themselves naturally and confidently.
Unconsciously, a “warrior” spirit, a fighting character, has been passed down from my grandmother to my daughter.
At 37, I feel as if I have already lived several lives and held several professions. I have become calmer and more at peace, with the desire to create new things. Everything now seems possible.
But I owe that to this pillar represented by this house and this lineage of strong women.
Family dishes with a touch of refinement — that is my mother’s signature.
Bringing a new cuisine in a self-taught way.
We cook by instinct.
From generation to generation we continue to grow.
I have never felt the need to defend my strength as a woman.
CONTACT DETAILS
Sous la Tonnelle
13 Rue Général Abbatucci, 20137 Porto-Vecchio
04 95 72 09 96
www.souslatonnelle-portovecchio.fr
instagram : souslatonnelleportovecchio
